Bag opening machine with upper and lower bag forming units



Aug. 26, 1952 E. HOFFMAN 2,608,331

BAG OPENING MACHINE WITH UPPER AND LOWER BAG FORMING UNITS Filed Aug. 7,1946 2 SHEETS --ShEET 1 INVEN TOR.

M WW UL @W QM A Jmk ATTORNEYS Aug. 26, 1952 r E, HOFFMAN 2,608,331

BAG OPENING MACHINE WITH UPPER AND LOWER BAG FORMING UNITS Filed Aug. 7,1946 Z'SHEETS ShEET 2 INVENTOR ATTORNI'EYS Patented Aug. 26, 1952 BAGOPENING MACHINE WITH UPPER; AND LOWER BAG FORMING UNITS Ernest Hoffman,Nutley, N. J., assignor to American Can Company, New York, N. Y., acorporation of New Jersey Application August 7 1946, Serial No. 689,067

2 Claims.

This invention relates to bag or container opening machines and hasparticular reference to a machine for opening or expanding folded orcollapsed bags, flexible containers and the like and for holding them inopened position for fillmg.

An object of the invention is the provision of a bag opening machine foropening folded or collapsed flexible bags, shipping carriers and thelike into expanded article receiving condition.

Another object of the invention is'the provision of a bag openingmachine having elements .which permit the telescoping of a collapsed orpartially opened bag thereover in one position and which in anotherposition expand the bag into contents receiving condition and thereafterrelease the filled bag or carrier.

- Still another object of the invention is. the provision of such amachine of simple construction wherein a combination of devicescooperate to expand a collapsed orpartially opened bag and hold itin'article receiving condition and guide the articles into fillingposition within the expanded bag.

Numerous other objects and advantag-es of the invention will be apparentas it is better'understood from the following description, which, takenin connection With the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferredembodiment thereof. r Referring to the drawings: Figure l is aperspective view of a bag opening machine embodying the presentinvention;

Fig. 2 is'a view similar. to Fig. l, with certain parts removed andshowing a partially opened bag being slipped or telescoped ontoexpandable and contractable bag opening or forming mandrel units; i

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the bag opening units infully expanded position within a bag, causing the latter-to be fullytelescoped and expanded thereover; and Fig. 4 is a perspective view-ofthe machine showingoperating parts located at and viewed fromthe side ofthe machine opposite to that ofFig.l. As a preferred embodiment of theinvention, the drawings illustrate a machine for opening folded orflattened bags, flexible containers, shipping carriers and thelikedesignated by'iithe letter A; which, upon being partiallyopened' andsuch as paper and when expanded, preferably.

forms a square or rectangular container, as best illustrated in Fig. 3,for the shipping of articles such as empty containers. Such a bag isformed with four side wall members a, b, c and d. Each of the walls a,b, c and d have their marginal bottom edges bent and folded and securedto a bottom wall member e. The bag A as just described is received, forexample, at a can manufacturers plant in a flattened or folded form andis used for packing empty cans or containers usually formed with a'bodyhaving the bottom end secured thereto. Such cans are in a completed form(except for th top ends which are usually shipped separately) ready forfilling at a cannery and therefore are packed in bags or flexiblecontainers A by the can maker for the purpose of shipping them to thecanner or packer for filling the. desired product therein.

. The bag opening machine embodying the present invention comprisescontractable and expandable bag engaging units or mandrel parts foropening the bags A and for holding them in expanded position while theyare being filled. One of the unitsdesignated by the letter B, is ascooplike member consisting of bottom wall II, and two opposed walls orflanges [2 which may be termed lower wings which are bent upwardly atsubstantially right angles to the plane of the bottom wall I l. Anarmsuch as a rod or tubular tangular frame I6 which comprises the mainframe of the machine and hasa front and rear opening. This frame [6 maybe formed integrally with or mounted. on a base or pedestal l1.

' The other of the bag engaging units, designated by the letter C, islocated above and in alignmentwith the unit B and comprises a pair ofspaced upper wings 2|. Each of the upper wings 2| is located above andadjacent one of the lower Wings [2. The upper wings 2! are secured toarms such as rods or tubular elements [22, which in turn are secured attheir inner ends to an upper rocker shaft 23, which. is car- 'ried insuitable bearings 24 formed in the'frame I6.

The shaft 23 is disposed in parallel fvert'ically spaced alignment withthe shaft M and preferably is' operated simultaneously with it. The,outer or forward ends ofhthe lower wings l2 and the upper wings 2| arecut away in a curve asat 25, so that when the units B and C arecontracted, they form a wedge shape for easy entry into a partiallyopened bag or carrier A.

The units B and C may be operated in any suitable manner to expand andcontract them. For example, a hand lever 3| (Fig. l) is secured to aright hand extension of the lower rocker shaft M. Rocker shaft [4 islinked to rocker shaft 23 through an interconnected linkage comprisinglevers or arms 32, 33, 34. There are two sets of these levers, one ateach end of the shafts M and 23 at opposite sides of the machine (Figs.1 and 4).

Each lever or arm 32 is secured at its lower end to the shaft i and ispivoted at its upper end to the lever 33, as by a pin 35. Each lever orarm 33 is connected through a pin 36 tothe lower end of the lever or arm34. Each lever 34 is secured at its upper end to the shaft 23. Thus, asthe hand lever 3! is moved from the rearward position shown in Fig. l tothe forward position of Fig. 3, the units B and C respectively securedto shafts l4 and 23 are moved from theircontracted position to theirexpanded position.

For the purpose of restoring the units Band C to their contractedposition as an incident to positioning another bag in place for opening,springs 31 are provided. One end of the spring 3'1 is linked to the pin35 and the opposite end to a pin 38 secured to the outer side walls ofthe frame it at each side of the machine.

Provision is made to maintain the units B and C in their expandedposition while empty cans or other articles are being filled or packedinto an opened bag thru the rearopening of the frame l6 where they arearranged in a stack or column on the scoop-like member B. For thispurpose latch links 42 are, provided, there being one such latch link oneach side of the machine (Figs. 1 and 4). Each latch link 42 is carriedon the outer end of one of the pins 35. A semicircular slot 13 is formedin the lower end of each of the latch links 42 for engagement with theshaft, M for locking the units in their expanded position. Thus as theshaft I4 is rocked by the hand lever 31 for moving the units B and Cfrom the position shown in Fig. 1 to that in Fig. 3, the latch links 42slide into locking position on the shaft I4 by means of" thesemicircular slots 13.

A leaf spring 44 is carried on each of the latch links 42 adjacent thesemicircular slot 33 on a pin 45 secured in each of the links. Theseleaf springs hold the latch links in their locked position while theunits Band C are in expanded position, as during packing. of empty cansor other articles into a held opened bag or carrier. Reverse movement ofthe hand lever 3| from the position shown in Fig; 3 to that illustrated.in Fig. l disengages the latch links 42' from the shaft l6. Cooperatingwith'the action of hand lever 3|, the springs 37 help to return theunits B and C to their initial contracted position.

Instead of having both mandrel units B and C'movable towards and awayfrom each other, contraction and expansion of these units can also beeffectively secured by having only one ofthe units movably. mounted inthe frame and having the other in fixed position.

In order to open a flattened or foldedbag or container A by the machinejust described, a bag A first is partially openedyas best illustratedin, Fig. 2, and is slipped or telescoped over the outer ends of'theunits B and C when they are in their contracted position. The mouth ofthe partially opened bag then is slipped further onto the units B and Cto fully open the walls of the bag. The units B and C are then shiftedby the shafts l4 and 23 to swing the units to their fully expandedposition (Fig. 3), thereby opening the bag or carrier into articlereceiving condition.

During the expansion of the units B and vC each lower wing l2 cooperateswith each adjoining and overlapping upper wing 2|, thereby providingopposed container wall engaging supports for the opened bag, which incooperation with the bottom wall ll produce a hollow mandrel comprisingthree adjoining interior lining walls or mandrel units which support theopened bag or carrier. The walls of these mandrel units serve as guidesand support the vertical stacks or columns of empty cans or containersas they are placed on the scoop-like member B and into the opened bagsthrough the rear opening of the frame I6 and the fully opened mouth endof the bag.

The bag A upon being filled with empty cans or other articles then isslipped off of the units B and C without disturbing the arrangement ofcans or other articles in the filled bag. The filled bag then may beclosed and sealed at its opened end in any suitable manner whereupon thebag is ready for shipment to the cannery or other packing place.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantageswill be understood from the foregoing description, and it will beapparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction, andarrangement of the parts of the apparatus mentioned herein and in thesteps and their order of accomplishment of the process described herein,without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention orsacrificing all of its material advantages, the apparatus and processhereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. In a bag opening machine, the combination of a frame having avertically disposed opening through which articles are passedhorizontally for filling into bags held in open horizontal position, apair of parallel horizontally disposed and vertically spaced rockershafts comprising an upper shaft and a lower shaft both carried in saidframe within said opening, each of said shafts having horizontallyspaced arms projecting therefrom, a scoop-like support member secured tothe arms on said lower rocker shaft and projecting outwardly from andoverhanging said frame, said support member having a bottom forsupporting a plurality of articles in vertically stacked relation whenreceived through said frame opening withsaid bottom in substantiallyhorizontal position, said support member also having a pair' ofvertically disposed lower side wings, a pair of horizontally spacedupper side wings secured to the arms on said upper rocker shaft anddepending therefrom, said up per side wings being disposed in verticalposition adjacent and overlapping the side wings ofsaid support memberfor substantially their full length, said overlapping lower and upperside wings cooperating in guiding and holding articles in stackedrelation on the bottom of said support member, and actuating means forrocking said upper and lower rocker shafts in unison for moving theprojecting ends of said upper wings and sa'id'support member togetherfor receiving a collapsed bag to be filled with articles, said actuatingmeans also moving said upper wings away from said bottom to expand andhold said collapsed bag in open position to receive said articles.

2. In a bag opening machine, the combination of a frame having avertically disposed opening through which articles are passedhorizontally for filling into bags held in open horizontal posi- I tion,a pair of parallel horizontally disposed and.

vertically spaced rocker shafts comprising an upper shaft and a lowershaft both carried in said frame within said opening, each of saidshafts having horizontally spaced arms projecting therefrom, ascoop-like support member secured to the arms on said lower rocker shaftand projecting outwardly from and overhanging said frame, said supportmember having a bottom for supporting a plurality of articles invertically stacked relation when received through said frame openingwith said bottom in substantially horizontal position, said supportmember also having a pair of vertically disposed lower side wings, apair of horizontally spaced upper side wings secured to the arms on saidupper rocker shaft and depending therefrom, said upper side wings beingdisposed in vertical position adjacent and overlapping the side wings ofsaid support member for substantially their full length, saidoverlapping lower and upper side wings cooperating in guiding andholding articles in stacked relation on the bottom of said supportmember, plvotally connected lever linkage interposed between said rockershafts and providing corresponding movement of both shafts, actuatingmeans for rocking said upper and lower rocker shafts in unison formoving the projecting ends of said upper Wings and said support membertogether for receiving a collapsed bag to be filled with articles andfor moving said upper wings away from said bottom to expand and holdsaid collapsed bag in open position, and latch means connected with saidshaft linkage for holding said wings in expanded position to hold thebag open to receive said articles.

ERNEST HOFFMAN,

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

